Quality of human capital accumulation, higher education graduates and economic growth: A comparative analysis between BRICS, Southeast Asian and MENA countries

BACKGROUND: The question of the accumulation of the quality of human capital and its relationship with growth is very rarely addressed by the literature. OBJECTIVE: This article aims to investigate the impact of quality of human capital accumulation on economic growth for BRICS, Southeast Asian and MENA countries. METHODS: Thus, we utilize endogenous growth model of Lucas [5] that is the most appropriate for the human capital-growth question. We use yearly data for each group employed in this paper during the period of study from 1990 to 2015. RESULTS: The empirical results show that for BRICS and South East Asia countries, the nexus between quality of human capital and economic growth is positive, while for MENA countries the relationship has not been identified. Also, we show that positive link between quality of human capital and economic growth depends on the level of accumulation and effectiveness of higher education graduates and their employment rate in high value-added sectors. CONCLUSION: The relationship among human capital and economic growth does not only depend on the employment rate of university graduates and labor market matching mechanisms, but it also depends on the nature of the job and the efficiency and productivity of human capital.